An imposingly built, middle-aged man sits on a stool in front of a room teeming with watchers. He strums a mandolin, his head inclined slightly towards a microphone so that his plaintive lyrics floating through the cozy confines of the room.
As the last notes bounce off the walls, the assembled crowd puts aside half-eaten chicken wings and half-finished beers to clap admiringly; before the echoing claps can fade the man exuberantly asks —though it kind of seems like he’s already made up his mind— if the crowd wants to hear another (they do) and he launches into another song, the warm tones of his mandolin accompanying guttural lyrics about Alton Baker Park and vans down by the river.
It’s a Tuesday night at Eugene’s Hot Mama’s Wings, and the house is relatively full because it’s open mic night (and because the wings are good).
The song the man has just launched into is, interestingly enough, a violation of house rules. Each performer at Hot Mama’s Mic-Night is only allowed three songs before they give way to the next in line and this is the man’s fourth —but no one seems to mind. Soon enough he finishes his set and two young men take his place and tear into a set of angst-filled acoustic guitar ballads.
This is a typical mic night at Hot Mama’s, and one of the reasons they’re a popular event not just here but all over Eugene. They give people a chance to express themselves musically; because, let’s face it, few of us will ever be in a band and tour the world —but that doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty of gifted musicians all around us.
“I’ve heard everything from Ween covers to people playing their own material that sounds like Bob Dylan, and even some stand-up comedy,” Hot Mama’s Billy Ashe said. “A lot of them are regulars who all actively play in the community.”
Open mic nights are not a new phenomenon, but in an eclectic college town like Eugene, they’re quite common and feature a wide array of instruments and styles.
According to Cozmic Pizza’s Amber Ivey, at their event, which are on Wednesdays at 7 p.m., she’s seen full piece bands show up.
“I’ve seen violinists, keyboardists, full metal bands, comedy and even dubstep,” Ivey said.
But even that eclectic mix can’t be said for all open mics across town; on Tuesdays nights one can encounter “Bluegrass Jam Night” at Sam Bond’s. Anyone can show up and play, as long as it’s bluegrass.
Closer to campus, one can encounter the more prototypical open mic night, like the one Don Draper encountered in Greenwich Village in season one of “Mad Men.”
On Mondays, starting at 9 p.m., The Buzz holds an open mic for poetry, and on Fridays, also starting at 9 p.m., an “eclectic mic night.” This is your chance to encounter an open mic night in its purest form: young college types with plenty of creative energy who feel like they’re drowning in a sea of sameness and who are desperately looking for an outlet (if you’re lucky you might spot a beret and hear someone misquote T.S. Eliot).
Jokes aside, college towns like Eugene are full of creative and bright people, and open mic nights give them a chance to show their talents; luckily enough for us, we don’t have to travel far to find and enjoy one.